Oliphant said 150 home rebuild permits have been issued by the city. More than 1,000 homes were destroyed by the tornado or damaged so severely that they are not habitable.

“That deserves applause,” said City Administrator Tim Gleason.

The audience of several hundred at Evangelical United Methodist Church obliged.

City Engineer Ed Andrews discussed proposed “recovery truck routes” in tornado-affected neighborhoods and brought a map that outlined the routes.

Gleason explained his decision to ask City Council to re-adopt the 2013-14 budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year, which will begin May 1.

“There’s no cause for alarm,” he said. “We just don’t have enough information to propose a new budget.”

As for the $45 million pledged by the state to help tornado-ravaged communities, Gleason said he doesn’t know how that’s going to take place.

“We don’t want to be pushy about it, but we’re not sitting on our hands, either,” he said, noting a debris removal bill from Waste Management Inc. already has been sent to the state.

Gleason also said Waste Management’s spring curbside pickup of large, bulky items April 21 through 24 will include tornado-damaged neighborhoods, and residents can take clean landscape debris to the city’s Diebel Road property from sunup to sundown daily.

In an answer to an audience question, Gleason said he’s heard that the owners of Georgetown Common Luxury Apartments plan to rebuild the complex.

LeeAnn Schmidgall from Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Peoria Area announced the organization wants to build homes for Washington tornado victims and help with non-critical home repairs.

Pastor Ben Davidson of Bethany Community Church, whose church is the headquarters for the volunteer tornado cleanup effort in Washington, said spring break groups just completed their 30th consecutive day of work in the city.

Doug Damery, executive director of the Washington Park District, shot down a rumor when he said the Washington Pool will be open this summer.

Town hall meetings have been held in Washington since shortly after the tornado hit. Gleason said he’s been amazed by the attendance.

“It hasn’t dropped. In fact, it’s increased,” he said.

Thursday’s meeting began and ended with a prayer.

After the closing prayer, attendees could select from quilts made by a women’s group in New Hampshire for tornado victims.

Steve Stein can be reached at 686-3114 or stevestein21@yahoo.com. Read his Stein Time blog on pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpartanSteve.